Patty, who had told me her name was Patrica, showed me to a large room with a king-sized bed and a bathroom in the other room, and said that this is where I would be staying until further notice. All five of my wolves quickly found their places on the bed, and I took a minute to check around the room. Finding nothing of interest, as it was pretty bare in the first place, I retreated back to the bed, joining the dog pile.
"So, Cana, what have you been doing to me?" I asked, grabbing her face and pulling her close to mine, narrowing my eyes at her.
"It wasn't my fault!" A voice whispered, and I jumped in shock, falling off the bed in the process.
"You can talk!?" I exclaimed, scrambling to my feet, and staring at the wolves on the bed.
"You can hear her?" Ulric stood up from the bed, and I assumed that it was him who had spoken that time.
"Wha-" I was cut off by Lupus, who looked over at Ulric.
"You do know what this means, right?"
"But he's just a boy, that's impossible!" Ulric responded, baring his teeth.
I glared at them, "can you guys tell me what's going on? What's impossible? How can I understand you? Who even are you guys?"
Ulric and Lupus continued their conversation like I wasn't here while Cana was kind enough to do her best on answering my questions, "I don't know a whole lot myself, but because of our half hound traits, we still have a connection with hell. We aren't anyone special, despite you thinking that because of our abilities. All hounds and halbreeeds have them, but chose never to show anyone. I encouraged them to show you, because you seemed like a good person who wouldn't mistreat us like everyone else with their hounds and halfbreeds." Cana jumped down off the bed, coming over and sitting in front of me. I sat down with her, listening to her explanation, "you understanding us could actually mean a few things. You may have formed such a strong bond with us, despite the short time, and you're using that to listen to our voices. There is a possibility that you have hound blood in you yourself. Though, the idea that those two," she looked over at Lupus and Ulric, who were still arguing, "jumped to is that you have the first hound, but I don't see a mark on you, nor do I sense any higher presence. My best guess in the bond. It's a rare occurrence, but entirely possible."
I nodded my head, understanding a little better. I then asked, "why don't hounds and crossbreeds show their abilities?"
"Hounds usually do," Cana replied, her tail wagging, "however halfbreeds don't because we don't like the fact that we are forcefully bonded with humans. But I don't mind being with you, you give us a lot of freedom."
Conwenna joined the argument with Lupus and Ulric, and Tunstall looked at me with an annoyed expression before standing up and coming to join me and Cana. He seemed somewhat interested in what we were talking about, rather than the other's conversation, which had turned into something about who killed and ate whose food. I wasn't really paying attention to them, Tunstall had something more interesting to say, "I assume Cana told you about our abilities?" I nodded and he continued, "do you understand that you can't share this information?" I nodded again, determination clearly evident in my expression. Tunstall sat down, towering over me, but then rested his head on my shoulder, "then I will gladly follow you until the end of days."
"Thank you," I replied, scratching the fur around his neck.
"It should be I thanking you," he said, bowing so I could reach the top of his head. Tunstall accepted my scratches, eventually lying down next to me on the floor, Cana doing the same but trying to lie in my lap. I petted her too, but at some point we were interrupted by someone coming in through the door. It was a man that I didn't know at all, and instead of speaking his simply waved his hand in a guest ute to come near. I was hesitant, but Cana slowly getting off me made me stand.
I walked forward, the wolves trying to follow, but the man closed the door before they could get out. I figured that if I were in danger, they could always break the door, and so I calmed my growing nerves while following the man down the hallway. He never spoke a word, only looking back a couple times to make sure that I was still there. I found it odd, but so enough he opened a door to a large room with weird glowing lights that people were sitting in front of. It was hard to describe the different colors on the glass, people wearing masks that covered their noses and mouths, tapping away at the desks, making clicking noises as they did. I took a deep breath, seeing my so called Uncle walking around with his hands behind his back, wearing a suit and tie, watching everyone as they tapped away. I took the few moments it took to approach him to really get a good look at him. He was fairly tall, broad build but more on the fluffy side as his stomach budged out from under his suit. He had sort of a beard that wasn't long or bushy, but was still at the point where it could be called a beard. I watched as he turned around, smiling a little as he looked down at me, "there you are. I was wondering if you would like to look around, seeing that everyone seems to be doing fine."
I nodded my head, figuring that it would be nice to get to know him better, since he was my uncle. He gave me a curt nod before telling the man who led me here to keep an eye out on everyone before leading me out of the room. Once outside and in the hallway yet again, he looked down at me, "well I suppose it would be best to give you a name, yes?"
"That would be nice," I replied me growing hopeful as Joshua grew more solemn.
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "I know exactly what he would have named you too. You see, my father, your grandfather, fought in many wars before no one even knew of Hell's Gates. He was one of the greatest warriors the land had known of, until one day he left the women he loved with two children, and disappeared. No one knew what happened to him, no one knew what had become of him. You father knew him better than I, as I was still a baby when he left. But you father and Ashton, you grandfather, were very close. I'm sure he would have name you that." He went silent, walking along while staring straight ahead, something clouding his vision, like he was playing the memories over and over and over again in his head.
Ashton. I wasn't opposed to it, being named after a family member I didn't really know about. Although, it did feel weird, walking with a man who I knew was family, and yet unable to connect with him. I wish that I could know more, for my father to have survived so that I could have grown with the knowledge of my past, my origin. Yet, wishes were wishes, and there wasn't anything that I could do to change the past.
Uncle Joshua brought me to a kitchen type of setting, with long tables and a counter top that seemed to stretch on for forever, people behind it standing around while stirring large bowls of meat and sauces, marinating them. Uncle Joshua broke the silence between us by telling me, "you can ask for anything, they'll whip it up for you."
I nodded and approached the bar carefully, "do you have pancakes?" It was the first thing that I had thought of, remembering the one time I had them, a gift from a villager after I had helped them move wood. I hoped they would be as good as the lady's, and I was left to watch as one of the chefs nodded at me before turning and gathering ingredients. Uncle Joshua pulled out one of the bar seats and sat down, and I quickly followed suit.
"So," he began, not looking at me as he spoke, "I was thinking that we could get rid of your filthy crossbreeds, and I could have someone bring in a real hound, so that-"
I cut him off, "no! They're not filthy, they're smart and helpful! They're my companions now, I won't get rid of them for some hound! Just because they aren't pure doesn't make them useless."
"Are you sure? I could easily get you a really powerful hound, and as many as you want too!"
I shook my head, sour at the thought of getting rid of my new friends. I felt myself reaching out to them, wishing that they were here so that I wouldn't feel guilty of talking about them behind their backs. Maybe it was because that I was able to understand them that made me think of them as higher, more intelligent beings, and yet, I wondered about a scenario where they never spoke to me- would I still feel the same? One of the chefs set a plate and some silverware in front of me, and I played with the fork, having a difficult time staying still.
"So what was your journey like?" He tried asking, and I sighed.
"Running away from death, really."
"Yeah?"
I nodded.
He tried a different question, "so you're in the capital, and your uncle almost own everything, what do you want to do?"
"You own everything?"
"Most of everything," he said, grinning, "the OM owns more than half the city, and I was the one who founded the OM."
I sort of understood, although I didn't know much about what the capital had to offer. After a quick debate with myself, I decided to confide in him, "I don't really know much. I've been traveling most of my life, and that mainly consisted of running away from demons..."
"That's alright, things happen. I'll tell you what," he began explains as I ate the pancakes that had been served to me, and to my delight they were even better than the ones I had before, "I'll enroll you in one of the best schools the capital has to offer, and we can go from there. Seeing as you haven't had any education before hand, I'll let the teachers know, and we can see if we can get you in some private classes. Don't worry my boy, we'll make you the smartest man alive!"
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